I saw the thread about individual stock discussion. But that thread is all over the place. It is difficult to follow discussions.I'm hoping to focus on dividend paying stocks only. Yields of at least 2.5%, I prefer close to or more than 4%.I want to keep it narrowed to those stocks which have earnings (or cash flow) greater than the dividend payout so that the dividends are reasonably secure. Preferably as close to twice the dividend payout as possible.Also, we give priority to companies with a long record of paying dividends without fail... better yet, never decreasing their dividends and sometimes raising them!We don't just find them to buy them... we wait for pullbacks in price so that the dividend yields are higher than usual... or we find some trend in the business such that we expect improved earnings or cash flow to allow further increases in dividends later... or we use Ex-dividend dates as a tendency of the stock price to stay up or rise as we approach that ex-div date and use that phenomenon to our advantage such as selling naked puts that expire before that ex-div date... or sell naked puts OTM and be glad if it ends up ITM with stock put to us at that lower strike price... etc.

This thread will take a little more effort to find these gems instead of the "individual stock discussion" thread. But getting dividend stocks is a nice subset of stocks. Plus we can all learn a little bit more about investing...

too much volatility in the market to invest in individual stocks as a small guy--- you could do a nice screen --- but it is impossible to take into account the massive amounts of money that is in the game for sole purpose of trading and manipulation

good luck managing your own hand-picked portfolio --- dividend stocks or not

The S&P 500® Dividend Aristocrats index measures the performance of large cap, blue chip companies within the S&P 500 that have followed a policy of increasing dividends every year for at least 25 consecutive years.

SpeedingLunatic said: A good starting-point is the S&P Dividend Aristocrats Index

I like the Dividend Achievers and Dividend Champions as well. They can include companies that are not on the S&P500 but still pay good dividends. I am also investing in REITs. Some pay 14+% in dividend yields with fairly stable stock prices. However their dividends are not qualified so they are taxed at ordinary income rates.

I purchase most of my dividend paying stocks through computershare.com or wells fargo shareowner online. That allows me to purchase and reinvest dividends at low to no fees.

SpeedingLunatic said: A good starting-point is the S&P Dividend Aristocrats Index

The S&P 500® Dividend Aristocrats index measures the performance of large cap, blue chip companies within the S&P 500 that have followed a policy of increasing dividends every year for at least 25 consecutive years.

NTG, very very stable. a fund that invests in MLP, basically pipelines companies. no K1 for you to deal with. the best thing? 100% of their dividends becomes return of capital in the past few years. yield isn't the greatest, but you can't beat tax free.

For me, as probably some others, I'm interested in ETF's/Mutual Funds that focus on securities with consistently high dividend yields. Don't have time to manage individual stocks. Any recommendations besides HDV?

Also, from what I read, 2012 was the last year that dividends could be qualified and taxed at the 15% capital gains tax rate? It looks like going forward, all dividends will be taxed at ordinary income tax rates?

omarECD said: Also, from what I read, 2012 was the last year that dividends could be qualified and taxed at the 15% capital gains tax rate? It looks like going forward, all dividends will be taxed at ordinary income tax rates?Not exactly. The tax on dividends will vary from zero to 20per cent dependent on income level. Also there maybe 3.8 surcharge for certAin investors.Of course there requirements for qualified dividends such as length of holdings and whether it is domestic or foreign.

omarECD said: For me, as probably some others, I'm interested in ETF's/Mutual Funds that focus on securities with consistently high dividend yields. Don't have time to manage individual stocks. Any recommendations besides HDV?

Yields on stocks are not the same as yields on fixed income instruments. Every time a stock pays out a dividend, its price declines by that amount. Not the case with fixed income. Buying stocks just for the yield is not very profitable, especially given the 2-4% yield range combined with high volatility.

I bought a lot of VZ and AT&T in 2010, their businesses were exploding with smartphones/tablets and they've of course always got their core ISP, backbone, and legacy phone. They were paying 7% steadily with increasing dividends with increasing reuslts every quarter. Not only did I get a very safe, secure dividend, but the share prices themselves jumped about 30% over the next year as people who trade stocks realized smartphones were going to be a big thing.

I think their dividends are still ~5%, and I think the dividend is very safe. There is increasing pressure from smaller phone companies and MNVOs now in the cellular market, but AT&T and VZ dominate with like 80% of the market, and no matter where the tech industry goes, no matter what the next iGadget or connected service or customization is...it'll need mobile/home internet service and that's what these guys have on lockdown. They are the toll roads of the new millenia.

There could be some distortion caused by the increase in taxes on dividends. Filthy rich people are going to be a bit more averse to receiving dividends this year in their taxable accounts (now taxed at 20%), which may make dividends good for tax-advantaged accounts or taxable account of people below the top bracket.

valueinvestor said: There could be some distortion caused by the increase in taxes on dividends. Filthy rich people are going to be a bit more averse to receiving dividends this year in their taxable accounts (now taxed at 20%), which may make dividends good for tax-advantaged accounts or taxable account of people below the top bracket.

I keep all of my Dividend yielding stocks in a Roth IRA. But I am not filthy rich anyways lol...

dawhim said: NTG, very very stable. a fund that invests in MLP, basically pipelines companies. no K1 for you to deal with. the best thing? 100% of their dividends becomes return of capital in the past few years. yield isn't the greatest, but you can't beat tax free.

Distributions classified as return of capital are not tax-free, they're tax-deferred. ROC lowers your basis in the stock, so when you sell, that distribution is taxed at the cap gains rate for your holding period. Still good to get the cap gain rate instead of ordinary income, but it's not free.

I don't want to discuss specific stocks, but I would like to say that I have been investing in a dividend payer for all of my adult life as part of my 401k. It hasn't been a great performer, but that has allowed me to buy more shares. When my oldest started college, I started taking the dividends as a distribution. This 'turbocharged' my take home pay even as I continued to invest in the stock via matched 401k contributions. The dividends are treated as 'regular income' which is good if you are from a state that has no income tax (as I am).

When my youngest finishes college, I'll invest those dividends in less volatile options as I prepare for retirement. I hope to pass those shares to my kids at some point.I'm not getting rich, but my life is a lot less bumpy than that of some of my friends.

wizwor said: I don't want to discuss specific stocks, but I would like to say that I have been investing in a dividend payer for all of my adult life as part of my 401k. It hasn't been a great performer, but that has allowed me to buy more shares. When my oldest started college, I started taking the dividends as a distribution. This 'turbocharged' my take home pay even as I continued to invest in the stock via matched 401k contributions. The dividends are treated as 'regular income' which is good if you are from a state that has no income tax (as I am).

When my youngest finishes college, I'll invest those dividends in less volatile options as I prepare for retirement. I hope to pass those shares to my kids at some point.I'm not getting rich, but my life is a lot less bumpy than that of some of my friends.

I'm not, but I didn't want to make the point about a specific stock. People get hung up on the performance of a specific stock. The concept is to buy and hold in a 401k to minimize fees, grab the match, and defer the taxes. If you can take the dividend as a distribution at will, then you get to increase your income to deal with life's bumps without dealing with penalties. When you need money for a new car, you have the option of borrowing from yourself if the stock is high -- it's kind of like putting CDs in your portfolio. And if disaster strikes, you can probably not pay back your 401k without incurring penalties or messing up your credit. That was the point.

samiam68 said: Yields on stocks are not the same as yields on fixed income instruments. Every time a stock pays out a dividend, its price declines by that amount. Not the case with fixed income. Buying stocks just for the yield is not very profitable, especially given the 2-4% yield range combined with high volatility.

This theory always blows my mind. Under this theory, a stock's price along an infinite timeline would go to zero as it continually increases dividends.

samiam68 said: Yields on stocks are not the same as yields on fixed income instruments. Every time a stock pays out a dividend, its price declines by that amount. Not the case with fixed income. Buying stocks just for the yield is not very profitable, especially given the 2-4% yield range combined with high volatility.(Bold mine.) This statement is logically and mathematically incorrect, because it fails to allow for growth in earnings over time. (Likely behavior on the ex-div date is another matter, of course.)

The $0.55 dividend was also, we believe, important in terms of timing for our shareholders, given changes to tax policy in 2013. It should not be taken that this dividend level is representative of our ongoing earnings power.

mrpresidentusa said: I'm hoping to focus on dividend paying stocks only. Yields of at least 2.5%, I prefer close to or more than 4%.

Motif Investing offers these motifs or baskets of dividend paying stocks that seem to match your criteria:Defensive DividendHigh-Yield dividendDividend StarsYou own the shares directly (fractional) so there are no mgt fees. They also have baskets of etfs, but I think you just wanted Dividend Paying Stocks. No shorting though, or options.

Looking4morecents said: GamingG said: ARCP will release the corrected and delayed financials premarket on Monday. Anyone going for this high risk play? Still holding. I put in a sell order a few minutes ago. Huge volume today with little price movement. And I just noticed today they have not paid the Jan or Feb dividend. At this point I suspect the dividend will get cut and the price will fall.

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